Unless you're relentlessly anti-social (or fixated with online play only), you'll need to buy additional controllers to complement the one packaged with your console. You may have an annoying sibling to take on at FIFA, a guest who wants to 'see how much games have changed since my Atari ST', or a child to grind Lego collecathons with. However you arrive there, you will almost certainly be looking to buy a second controller at some point. I bought a second official MS Xbox controller when I bought my 360 in 2007. Recently one of them became faulty, continually becoming disconnected from the console despite fully juiced-up batteries or battery packs. As I often play 360 with my daughter, a second controller is essential and so I was in the market for a new one.
Third-party pads are nearly always awful (
Power A Pro Elite on PS3 being a notable exception), so I looked to Microsoft for a replacement pad. As I've written on here before, I think that the 360 controller is the best controller that I have ever used over my thirty years of gaming. Other than the d-pad, which is a bit sucky, there is nothing that I would seek to improve about the pad that I wanted to replace.
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| Pretty |
Never one to miss a trick, improving the d-pad is exactly what Microsoft has done in the latest version of the pad. The d-pad switches between a disc (as in the original pad) and, with a slight twist, a cross. The cross is undoubtedly better than the disc but most games that I play don't use the d-pad all that much - weapon selection, choice of tactics and similar functions. While it's a neat trick, I don't think it is that much of a killer feature to warrant a purchase on its own.
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| As an 'innie' |
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| As an 'outie' |
As the pictures show, my new controller is silver which, as the pictures don't quite show, is a matt effect (a shiny finish would not have done much for its gripability). I thought that this would run the risk of scuffing like a cheap plastic toy - of the metal effect rubbing off after repeated use to show the black plastic underneath. So far, however, that has not happened, even under the part of the controller under my wedding ring.
Another new 'feature' is a recolouring of the buttons, presumably to echo the silver colour of the pad itself. I think that this is a poor design choice as far as its primary purpose - as a game controller - is concerned. while it might make sense aesthetically, the 'normal' colours of the buttons are important when playing games. Screen prompts, particularly in tutorials, will flash up the colour, as well as the letters (which are unchanged in this pad). I instinctively know that 'green' means the 'A' button. There have been occasions playing with the new pad where I've seen a green, blue, red or yellow coloured screen prompt and had to think 'is that white, light grey, middle grey or dark grey?'. Many games rely on split-second timing and that fraction of a second additional thinking time may be the difference between success or failure.
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| The buttons in all their monochrome glory |
The pad is slightly heavier than the normal pad. Without batteries it is 226gm (compared to the normal pad's 209gm) and with the standard rechargeable battery pack, it is 297gm (compared to a normal pad's 280gm). 17gm difference seems very little indeed but it does make a difference. I often have stiff wrists the day following a lengthy gaming session (30-years' gaming experience, ftw) and that was noticeably worse with the new pad. The day after a long session with this pad on high octane shooter
Vanquish, my wrists were aching like those of a 14-year old boy with unmonitored internet access.
I paid £45 for the pad, which came packaged with a play and charge kit. As I needed a play and charge kit anyway, I thought that this was a good price. However, in my opinion this pad is not as good as the original pad. The chief 'good' point - the new D-pad - does not outweigh the 'bad' ones - the weight and the different coloured buttons. When/if I next need to pick up another new pad, I will be going for the original one.
